Tuesday, August 5, 2008

It Became Necessary to Destroy the Village in Order to Save It

For years, the old Devil Rays played in a dark, cavernous, empty can in St. Petersburg, Fla. Tropicana Field was morgue-like . . . These days, thanks in no small way to a couple of folks from Winnipeg, the Trop is an eye-popping delight filled with sound, colour and Evan Longoria home runs.

"Well, thanks," said Deb Belinsky, when told by a fan that her DCB Productions game-day operation had improved the atmosphere at Rays games . . . DCB provides game-day operations for the Toronto Blue Jays as well as the Ray. In St. Pete, the company not only brought a dance troupe, a game-day host, flashing lights, a TV show and lots of loud music, but they also added a twist. Belinsky asked friend Darren Moore, a guitarist for the Canadian classic rock band Harlequin, to write a theme song for the club.

I realize that the old dark cavern days were no good, but if loud music, dancers, and theme songs written by, um, these guys is the only thing that can liven up Tampa Bay baseball, we might want to rethink the whole operation.

3 comments:

Nice piece on the Rays and their recent changes to the fan experience. However, what the piece doesn't communicate is that the new "theme" song - "Feel the Heat...Rays" - could not be any cheesier (sic?). I've been to about 20 Rays games this season and the only music that they play at the Trop that gets worse than the new "theme" song is Akinori Iwamura's personal Japanese, Miami Vice-esque song during his ABs. The fact that it was written by a Canadian (without any disrespect to Rush) goes a long way in explaining it.

I pledge my eternal loyalty to the first team to renounce mascots; all music (excluding, MAYBE, intro music for hitters (one time) and closers (one time), and, maybe, the "Charge" music); people with t-shirt guns; cheerleaders of any type; and the Wave. In addition, said team must hire and train some good damn announcers, and pipe the radio feed through the stadium concourse; concession lines will feature TVs, featuring the game, so I don't have to miss anything while I'm waiting 15 minutes for a $4 hot dog.

I'm not really a disgruntled game attendee, but I would be so astonishined by these changes that I want to support the rocket scientists willing to make them. Make big league games like little league games, but with better players, and I'm there.